


Unexpected

by Cuillere



Series: 15 days of Hurt and Comfort Kylo (Tumblr, @hurtkylofest) [11]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Hurt, LFF Comment Project
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 15:23:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13954452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuillere/pseuds/Cuillere
Summary: After the tumultuous events from Crait, Hux and Kylo share a quiet moment. Hux discovers that everything he assumed about Kylo is wrong and reassures him that he is enough as he is.





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> Day 12 of @hurtkylofest :) prompt was : Insecure - After the tumultuous events from Crait, Hux and Kylo share a quiet moment. Hux discovers that everything he assumed about Kylo is wrong and reassures him that he is enough as he is.
> 
> I’m not entirely happy with it, but it’s late and I need to sleep, so I’ll leave it as-is.

Hux had barely arrived in front of Ren’s quarter that the door had opened. Ren had been unseen since coming back from Crait. Hux had expected Ren to let him deal with day-to-day stuff, but not his total silence. Even now, having opened his door for Hux and sitting in the dark, Ren was silent.  
“Supreme Leader? I have a few requests here that would require your validation.” He didn’t express his judgment on Ren’s way of ruling - lack of ruling, more like. He couldn’t. He did prize his life.  
“Come in, General. Sit.” A chair moved away from the table.  
Hux bit the inside of his cheek to repress a huff. He had not seen Ren for a few days and their last few meetings had left him with quite a few bruises. He didn’t sit down, though.  
“It shouldn’t take too long.”  
His eyes were adjusting to the dark and the details drawing out gave him more information for his analysis of the situation.  
Ren looked exhausted. The dark circle under his eyes told of sleepless nights. _At least I’m putting my sleepless nights to good use._  
“Sit, General.”  
Hux transformed a sigh into a slow exhale and sat down as Ren closed the door with a gesture of his hand. Hux felt trapped. A shiver ran through his back as Ren slouched closer. Now that he could see his eyes, he saw that Ren was desperate, and he knew to carefully handle a desperate man, especially one as powerful as Kylo Ren.  
Ren sat silent for a while, seemingly hesitating. Before he would uncontrollably snap at Ren, Hux broke the silence.  
“What is it, Supreme Leader?”  
“I… I don’t know how to do this, Hux.” Ren’s hands waved around him, designating the situation.  
Ren admitting that he didn’t know how to do something came as quite a shock to Hux, who let his datapad fall down on the table. And when the only situation Hux could think of was Ren’s leadership, he had to believe it was his own wish expressing.  
“I’m lost. I barely understand half of the reports that come through, I’m not even sure I know half of the things the order plays a part in! And I wanted to track the Resistance but I haven’t been able to locate what’s left of it. Not only have they escaped to unknown regions but the more time they have, the better prepared they’ll be. I… I can’t do this, Hux. I’m not good enough.”  
Hux was at a loss for words - or thoughts. He had not envisioned this meeting to go like this. He couldn’t really believe that Ren was in front of him, completely desperate, crying for help without daring asking for it.  
He couldn’t help but be reminded of himself, slouched over his pillow, crying for help, both praying that someone heard him and came to see his bruises and hoping that no one would.  
His skin was prickly all over at the memory, and it took him a long time to come back to the situation at hand. Hux certainly wasn’t the best person for Ren to voice his concerns and doubts to, but he knew he also was the only one. And he couldn’t not try to help.  
“The Resistance is barely more than a handful, now. They can be as prepared as they want, we’ll still wipe them from existence. You’ll still wipe them from existence. As for the reports, that’s because most of them are very technical and don’t necessarily deal with stuff you master. It’s all very normal. You don’t need to understand most of that anyway. You’ll learn progressively about the different activities we have, you don’t need to know everything right now.”  
Ren’s eyes were still watery but he had stopped sobbing.  
“I can make time for you tomorrow, we can go over the broad topics of the reports. That’ll also tell you a lot about our activities. I’m sure you’ll deal with that very well.”  
Ren sniffed and brushed his sleeve against his face, surprise and disbelief battle in his expressive eyes.  
As much as he couldn’t help trying to comfort Ren, he got up as soon as he saw Ren coming closer, clearly looking for a hug, and cleared his throat.  
“Is 0900 a good time for you?”  
Ren looked at him for a moment, clearly grateful and searching for something in Hux’s eyes - maybe a hint of mockery? Hux had been uncharacteristically gentle, he knew, but it was done, and he would stand his ground.  
“Yes.” He finally croaked. “Thank you, General.”  
“I’ll take my leave, then, Supreme Leader, if that’s all.” It had not been intended as a question, and Hux hated that it sounded like one.  
“Yes, General. Good night.”  
“Supreme Leader.”  
And with that, he left Ren’s quarters, still barely believing what had transpired and cursing his weakness for offering actual help. This would take so much of his precious time, and he would have to deal with Ren.  
Well, he couldn’t back down now.  
When he arrived in his own chambers, though, he still felt a pang of hope. When teaching Ren was not going to work, at least it’d give him more opportunities to observe Ren and deal with him, if necessary.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:  
> 
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * Constructive criticism
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> LLF Comment Builder
> 
>  
> 
> This author replies to comments.
> 
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason (sometimes I feel shy when I’m reading and not up to starting a conversation, for example), feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond!


End file.
